More and more monsters poured out, and the group quickly found themselves overwhelmed.
One after another, people had their hearts ripped straight from their chests. The senior brother could only watch helplessly as those monsters devoured the still-beating organs right in front of him, his eyes bloodshot with panic and rage.
But he couldn't even protect himself now, much less save anyone else. In the end, he too was dragged down. His screams echoed through the cave as his heart was torn out. He fell face-first onto the cold, blood-soaked ground, his body twitching before it went still. As his consciousness faded, regret consumed him.
That senior had warned them so clearly, yet they'd chosen to believe he was only after treasure...
Thinking about it now, if there really had been treasure, why would the auction house sell the map instead of quietly taking it for themselves?
From the very beginning, it had all been a setup. And they, blinded by greed, had walked straight into death. The senior brother shut his eyes for the last time, and his breath stopped completely.
The mine fell silent. Only corpses littered the ground, while monsters crouched among them, tearing into human hearts.
…
Song Wanníng stood in the middle of the carnage. All that remained before her were piles of monster corpses. Blood ran in rivers across the dirt, soaking everything red.
Xiao Jin was drenched from hilt to blade, its golden body smeared in dark blood from the monsters it had slain. But he looked exhilarated, his eyes faintly glowing red. He couldn't even feel how much energy he'd spent. The others weren't any better. Each of the little ones had gone all out, fighting until every last monster was dead.
"Sister, there were way too many of them," Long Ling panted, her expression full of disbelief.
"How'd they even hide in there? That crack's so tiny. Are there more of them inside?" She crept closer to the fissure, staring curiously into the narrow gap.
Song Wanníng followed, extending her divine sense to probe inside. But the moment her consciousness touched the crevice, it was blocked. She had no choice but to pull back. After waiting and baiting for a while longer to make sure nothing else came crawling out, she finally withdrew her divine sense.
The battlefield was a mess. With a wave of her hand, she summoned a ball of fire and burned every last corpse to ash. Once she confirmed everything was dealt with, she gathered her companions and flew toward the next location marked on the map.
There were five points in total. Two had already been cleared, leaving three more. She organized them by distance and started working through one after another.
By the time she reached the fourth location, Liu Xingzhi had arrived.
"Junior Sister Song."
He didn't call her Martial Nephew anymore, quietly raising her seniority instead.
Song Wanníng wasn't surprised. After all, they were both Unity cultivators now, and cultivation level could easily redefine seniority. She smiled lightly. "Senior Brother Liu."
Liu Xingzhi nodded, his gaze falling on a small cliff ahead. "The monsters are here?"
He spread his divine sense across the area but didn't detect anything unusual.
"Yeah."
Song Wanníng nodded, explaining everything from the beginning. When he heard that monsters had appeared in every marked location on the map, Liu Xingzhi's expression turned icy cold.
"Lanyuan… damn them!" He'd attended a few of their auctions decades ago, never imagining they'd sink this low.
"Even now, most sects and clans don't take these monsters seriously," Song Wanníng said with a sigh. "They've never seen a monster tide before, so they don't understand how terrifying it really is. They investigate for a while, then forget about it."
Judging from how things stood, these monsters were likely scattered across countless hidden corners already.
"I suspect there's a much larger plot behind all this," she said quietly.
"Someone's deliberately raising these monsters, using them for something." Her tone hardened.
"The sect master's still investigating the forces behind Lanyuan. We should have results soon." She finished speaking, released her little companions, and descended toward the base of the cliff.
Liu Xingzhi didn't reply. His face darkened, killing intent thick in his aura. If what she said was true—and he trusted her instincts—it meant this conspiracy ran deep. Without hesitation, he drew his blade and dove after her.
Almost immediately, shrill screams echoed from below.
Song Wanníng spread her divine sense, watching as the monsters scrambled out from the cracks, only to be cleaved apart by Liu Xingzhi's fierce strikes. Each swing of his blade cut through dozens at once, speeding up the cleanup.
She didn't interfere, standing guard at the perimeter instead, ready to act if anything unexpected happened.
With Liu Xingzhi's help, the fight was over in less than half a quarter-hour. Every last monster lay dead.
They burned the bodies, then rose back into the air.
"Let's go," Song Wanníng said crisply, wasting no time before flying toward the final location.
The journey was quiet. Neither of them spoke much, but there was no discomfort in the silence.
Soon, they reached the last marked point.
"A mine?"
Song Wanníng's heart skipped. She immediately recalled the lower realm monsters she'd found before, in the He family's abandoned mine. Back then, she'd only seen one and had no idea they lived in groups.
"I'll check it out," Liu Xingzhi said, gripping his long blade as he stepped into the mine.
After a brief pause, she followed him inside.
But the moment they entered, both froze.
The entire cave was filled with the stench of rot and blood. Corpses lay everywhere, their chests hollow, their faces twisted in pain. She recognized them instantly—they were the same people she'd saved not long ago.
Song Wanníng fell silent. Those people had walked straight into death with their eyes open.
"Sister, you warned them, and they still came?" Long Ling muttered in disbelief.
"Serves them right. Now they're really all dead!" She huffed in irritation, finding their greed absurd.
Liu Xingzhi took one look at the corpses and understood who they were. He wasn't surprised. Greed drove even wise cultivators to madness. Treasures in the cultivation world tempted hearts too easily.
These people had chosen death for the sake of fortune.
Song Wanníng's expression didn't change. Sometimes, no amount of warning could save those doomed to die. Without another word, she burned the bodies to ashes, then turned her gaze toward a narrow fissure where blood had pooled. She didn't need to say a thing. Liu Xingzhi noticed it too.
He raised his long blade, drew a sharp breath, and sliced open his own arm.
Blood trickled down his wrist, dripping to the ground.
Drip.
The drops splattered across the bloodstained dirt.
Song Wanníng's eyes flashed as something moved within the crack.
A black shadow shot out.
"Chiii—!"
A monster lunged at Liu Xingzhi, shrieking with excitement.
"Blazing Sun Slash!"
His blade gleamed with light, and before the creature could even touch him, it exploded into a mist of blood.
The moment one died, the rest stirred restlessly.
From inside the fissure, monsters began crawling out one after another, swarming toward Liu Xingzhi in a frenzy.